To identify the relationship between marital adjustment and, sex roles and burnout rather than dependence features of the patient in wives of the patients with AUD.

The study sample consisted of 33 wives of AUD patients (according to DSM-IV-TR criteria) who were applied to a University Hospital Alcohol Dependence Clinic to leave alcohol use. Sociodemographic questionnaire, Marital Adjustment Scale (MAS), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Bem Sex Role Inventory-Short Form (BSRI) and, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were applied to the wives of ADD patients.

Mean MAS score was under cut-off score (29.63 ± 10.33) and it shows that marital adjustment is lower in wives of ADD patients. It was shown that marriages longer than ten years, and higher emotional exhaustion scores were associated with lower marital adjustment in our study. Masculinity scores were higher in wives who perceived their income status higher. In contrast to previous studies, which examined marital adjustment, masculinity role was found to be associated with higher marital adjustment in our study.

Emotional exhaustion and depression are common in spouses of the patients with ADD in our study. There may be a distortion in expected roles of the spouses which cause a disequilibrium on the family relationship. Lower income status, having increased number of children was associated with severe depression in wives which found to reduce marital adjustment scores. Finally, most of the wives of ADD patients will need psychotherapeutic treatments during addiction period. So incorporating spouses into treatment of ADD patients is a necessity to improve marital adjustment and burnout.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.